No Time To Stamp?

The Menswear set by Flourishes was released today!!! What a great set for masculine cards!!!  It features a shirt, tie, mug and many sentiments, and here’s my latest:

This set is so fun to play with.  I did this for today’s TLC challenge at SCS to try paper tole, but NOT with a flower, which is how you typically see it done.  The instructions were to stack the images to provide dimension to the key features — fun!!!  But in all honesty, I’m not sure if I did this right, but it’s my attempt!!!  My shirt and tie were actually two different stamps, each stamped on different papers, they layered to provide dimension.  

The shirt was stamped on Soft Sky and the tie was stamped on the diagonal on a sheet of striped paper to give the diagonal stripes in the tie.  Additionally, the shirt was run through the Cuttlebug with the Stripes embossing folder to give it some additional dimension and texure.

My mug was then stamped and colored with Copics — sorry but I don’t have the colors — various shades of yellows and browns, trying to get a beer mug look, but maybe it looks more like root beer — LOL!!!  I tried — I am still very new with my Copics and have barely had a chance to use them (still working on my major stamp room cleaning/reorganizing).  After coloring the mug, I then stamped on the sentiment, then added the Liquid Applique foam on top — fun!!!  I got my Liquid Applique from Ellen Hutson.  I know I couldn’t find it anywhere for the longest time!  My mug is then mounted on thicker pop dots to get it above the shirt sleeve.  The Cheers sentiment is mounted with a pop dot as well.

All DP used is from one of my favorite Basic Grey packs — Periphery.  Love those greens, blues and browns in that pack.  Periphery is available at Flourishes, as is the Menswear stamp set.

• Stamps:  Menswear by Flourishes
• Paper:  More Mustard, Black, White, Soft Sky, Periphery by Basic Grey from Flourishes
• Ink:  Versa Fine Onyx Black, Copics in yellows and browns
• Accessories:  Liquid Applique, Brad, Craft Knife, Dimensionals, Pop Dots, Mounting Tape, Large Oval Punch, Cuttlebug, Stripes Embossing Folder

This card is 5.5″ square, one of my favorite sizes.  I use 6″ envelopes.  Thanks much for looking!!!   Hope you have a great week!!!

Keyword ssnotime28 - There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload your project at Splitcoast and/or your Blog, anytime at all!  You can play as many times as you like!!!  The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!!  Please link back here. 

The challenge this week is to paper piece. Did you like to play paper dolls as a child? Well, then this challenge is for you – it SO reminds me of playing with paper dolls!!!  If you have never done paper piecing, don’t panic — it is EASY and FUN and you’ll wonder why you never tried it before.  I am linking some great tutorials for you to look at if you want some instruction.  Here they are:

Michelle Wooderson dresses Hanna

Jeanne Streiff dresses Bella

Jeanne Streiff dresses the headless woman

See, don’t they make it look so easy — and it IS!!!  If you’ve never done it before, start simple and, as always, try to stick with our overall theme of *stamping simply*.   Here are some samples:

Check out Julie Koerber’s sample. 

Check out Dee Jackson’s sample.  

Check out Tammy Hershberger’s sample.  We are so happy to welcome Tammy to our crew of sample makers!!!  Love her work.  You can check her out on her Blog here.  Thanks so much Tammy for joining our crew!!! 

And my super simple samples are below.

Remember when you upload to use the keyword above, followed by a comma.  Please come back here to post (as a comment) that you’ve played, and provide a link so we can check out your card right away. You can find all cards uploaded for this challenge by clicking Gallery Submissions Here.

Some wanting to play said they have never uploaded before.  If that’s you and you need help uploading,  just go to my Challenge No. 1 here.

This is my first sample and, guess what?  Both of my samples today are a SNEAK PEAK at a brand new set by Flourishes called Menswear that will be released on Monday, March 31.  It’s a wonderful set for the guys in our lives!!!  Fun, fun, fun!!!  Anyway, back to my paper pieced sample — as usual, I take the easy way out and keep it simple — nothing could be more simple to paper piece than this large shirt — I stamped it onto a plaid sheet of paper in the Two Scoops pad by Basic Gray, stamped the tie in a coordinating solid, glued the tie to the shirt and mounted the shirt on the color blocked background with Dimensionals!!!  All DP on this card is from the Two Scoops pad by Basic Grey, also available at Flourishes.

Oh, and I want to add, when I paper piece large single images like this (I often do the large cake and stand from Cake Decorating 101 as well), I don’t stamp the image first on the  background  - since we aren’t matching it up to another portion of the stamp –there is no need.   I just adhere it to the background wherever I please.  And I often pop it up, depending on what it is.  The shirt is on Dimensionals, but the ties below are adhered by running them through my little Xyron X machine. 

And another thing, I will be teaching this plaid shirt card at a class on Paper Piecing at the Spring Stampede in Sayner, WI (near Eagle River) on Sunday, May 4.  It is one of 3 cards in the class.  If you plan on attending the Stampede, check out all the class offerings and make sure you sign up in plenty of time.  Here’s the link to all the activities of the weekend.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page for lots of links to all the class offerings, accomodations, etc.  Sure would love to meet some of you there!  Ok, now on to my 2nd sample:

This card used just the tie from Menswear by Flourishes.  It is stamped on 3 different sheets of DP from the Old World Stack by DCWV.   Paper from that same pad covers the card front, and the lower black portion is black cardstock, embossed in black with the Damask positive stamp by Flourishes.    This is such a fun set with so many options!!! The set also has a foamy mug and several more sentiments.  It is available for purchase on Monday, 3/31 at Flourishes.

Thank you so much for looking!!! Hope you can find time sometime soon to play with us!!!  Have a great weekend, whatever you choose to do!!!

My stamp room is still not in order, but I cleared a small spot to make this super quick gift set for today’s Color Challenge at SCS — Soft Sky, Basic Gray and White — a gorgeous, classy color combo — so I went with a formal gift set using a monogram, Damask positive by Flourishes and lush black velvet May Arts ribbon that I also got from Flourishes.  Here it is:

This is a set of three identical cards in a clear box (love those) wrapped with lush, black velvet ribbon.  The monogram was done with a new toy I got in the mail yesterday called the D.I.Y. Monogram Stamper by JustRite.   It’s one of those self-inked stampers that you press down — kind of a fun little contraption!  I used the model C-45 for this project.   You can change the outer rings and the letters.  This was my first time using it, and you can use uninked pads and fill them with your own ink colors, but I just used the pre-inked black pad that came with it.  You know me, always taking the easy way out!!!

This was so fast to make.  I stamped 1/4 sheet of Basic Gray with Damask Postive in Black.  That was then cut to give me two 1 3/4″ strips, enough for two cards.  Just adhered those to my Soft Sky card, wrapped with my favorite black velvet by May Arts.  My monogram was stamped on a 2″ square, narrowly framed in black, and adhered to the card front with mounting tape — done — just a matter of minutes per card — truly!!!!  I also stamped the monogram on the back of the envelope flap.  Then after making 3, I decided to use one of the clear boxes from ClearBags.com.  Their site is not the easiest to figure out — this box is only 1/2″ wide, and is their BF6,  to fit an A-2 sized card, if that might help!  The pretty card is completely visible, and I then wrapped it with the black velvet ribbon — nothing makes a gift more special than wrapping it in velvet — it just really says *You are Special*!!!  And guess who gets this special gift — check out the initials — ME!!!  LOL!!!

Both the Damask Positive background stamp and the May Arts velvet ribbon can be purchased from Flourishes.

• Stamps:  Damask Positive background by Flourishes.  D.I.Y. Monogram Stamper by JustRite.
• Paper:  Soft Sky, Basic Gray, White
• Ink:  Versa Fine Onyx Black
• Accessories:  Velvet Ribbon, Mounting Tape, Clear Box

Thanks much for checking in — have a great day!!!

This is an Oldies But Goodies post today — had to fall back on some old favorites of mine.  There has been no progress in my stamp room and I am getting unexpected out of state visitors today, so my stamp room and stamping projects have to wait.  We woke up on Easter morning to many inches of fresh snow.  It looks nothing like spring here, and I am SO ready for spring, warmer temps and flowers, so thought I’d share some flowers here today.

I made this card in June, 2007.  Details can be seen on my SCS post here.

Gee, didn’t realize I had chosen a photo with the same ribbon — LOL — I must like that ribbon!!! This photo is a lot darker.  The first photo shows a more true color of the ribbon.  Maybe someday I’ll get this photo business figured out — LOL!!!  This card was made in April, 2007.  Details of this card can be seen on my SCS upload here.

This is a card I did for a May, 2007 wedding with an Apple Blossom theme.  This card is in the Fan Club Gallery at SCS, so those of you who are Fan Club Members may view the details here.

If you are not a Fan Club Member at SCS, you may want to consider it!  The gallery opens on the 15th of each  month, jam-packed with knock-your-socks-off ideas.  It is certainly money well spent.  Think of it like subscribing to a magazine — the only difference is, when you subscribe to THIS magazine (the Fan Club Gallery), you have instant access to many years worth of magazines, right at your fingertips — they are always there for your viewing pleasure!!!  You may find out more about Fan Club Membership here.

Thanks for looking!!!  Hope to have something new soon!!! Hope you all had a Blessed Easter and a wonderful week ahead.

Good morning, everyone!!!  Easter Blessings to you all!!!

I have nothing to share today — it’s been a really busy week, but the real stumbling block to my posting today is that my stamp room is pretty much out of commission — I had ordered a few sections of lower cabinets and a 10 foot run of countertop to make a new, and much needed, workspace in my stamp room, and my guys were working on that yesterday.  It is pretty much done, but my room needs to be put back together, and organized, which will be a HUGE job — anyone who stamps here with me can attest to that — LOL!!!  But, with luck, I may get a small project done tonight — I ordered some new May Arts ribbons from Flourishes and they just arrived, as did my first purchase of Copic markers from Ellen Hutson – so you can just imagine how I am itching to play!!!  Maybe later today!!!

But I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a wonderful Easter.  Blessings to you all!!!

“For God so loved the World that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

Keyword ssnotime27 - There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload your project at Splitcoast and/or your Blog, anytime at all!  You can play as many times as you like!!!  The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!!  Please link back here. 

The challenge this week is to round some corners.  That’s it, no other rules.  Any kind of  rounded corners work — be creative and feel free to interpret a round corner in any way that seems logical to you!!!  It’s all about the creative process, no hard and fast rules!!!  Try to remember our overall theme, and keep it simple!!! 

Check out Julie Koerber’s sample.  It is striking!  So beautiful!

Check out Dee Jackson’s sample.   She focused on the *round*!!!  Great card!!!

And my super simple sample is below.

Remember when you upload to use the keyword above, followed by a comma.  Please come back here to post (as a comment) that you’ve played, and provide a link so we can check out your card right away. You can find all cards uploaded for this challenge by clicking Gallery Submissions Here.

Some wanting to play said they have never uploaded before.  If that’s you and you need help uploading,  just go to my Challenge No. 1 here.

Here’s my sample and I merely rounded 2 corners — simple, but I like it — rounding corners is such a simple thing and it sure does change the appearance!  My tag, which was a punch, has many rounded corners, my cake and oval plate are *roundy*, my little flower has rounded petals, and my gorgeous May Arts scalloped ribbon has rounded scallops!!!  So I got all sorts of round edges in there - LOL!!!

The cake and tag are up on dimensionals, the tag is tied on with embroidery floss, and the Prima is attached with a brad.  There are sparkly gems on my frosting, a RAK from my Canadian Elf — thank you!!!  That about sums it up!

Both stamp sets, Cake Decorating 101 and Many Sentiments, the Two Scoops paper pad and the May Arts ribbon are all available from Flourishes.

• Stamps:  Cake Decorating 101, Many Sentiments, both by Flourishes
• Paper:  Barely Banana, Old Olive, Prism Light Pink, Summer Picnic by SU, Two Scoops by BG
• Ink:  Versa Fine Onyx Black
• Accessories:  Ribbon, Brads, Eyelet, Cropadile, Primas, Embroidery Floss, Gems, Dimensionals, Tag Punch, Corner Rounder

That’s it for this one!!!  Thanks so much for checking in — hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!

This is a masculine sympathy card.  I incorporated it into Julia’s Challenge at SCS today to either make or incorporate a tag into your project.  The main sentiment circle is a tag.  A combination of 3 SU sets were used, all retired.  Here it is:

This card is 8.5 x 4″ and fits in a business sized envelope.  The base is Barely Banana, the image is watercolored with refills and an Aquapainter  The sentiment tag is Pop Dotted up.  There is a twine run through eyelets on the decorative dividing bar.  I wanted to make a sympathy card that was not dark and drab but that had some brightness/life to it.  And I always like this sentiment from All I Have Seen for sympathy cards.

• Stamps:  Calms Seas, All I Have Seen, Peace and Comfort (inside), all retired.  With Sympathy by Stampendous.
• Paper:  Barely Banana, Black, Watercolor.
• Ink:  Versa Fine Onyx Black, vavious reinkers to watercolor.
• Accessories:  Aquapainter, Eyelets, Cropadile, 2″ Circle Punch, Twine, Red Sticky Tape, Pop Dots.

Thanks much for looking!!!  My Stamp Simply Challenge will be up in the morning — hope you can play!!!

Well, that was today’s challenge – Everything Old is New Again!!   Another Dirty Girl Challenge (current and alumni) which runs the 20th of each month.  Our challenge this month is that we were to all make cards using old things — old stamps or embellishments, papers, inks, whatever — that were favorites of ours at one point in time.  So that’s exactly what  I did.  I have long loved Anna Griffin’s style, so I pulled out two of her stamps — the tulip and the background — as well as her butterfly punch — all of which are many years old.  I also used some retired SU organdy for this challenge.  This organdy is lavender and has been retired for a long, long  time.  

The first card is my upload for this challenge, and the following two are some even more simplified versions of this already simple card.   Here they are:

In making these cards, I used a style I always was drawn to as a new stamper — simple, yet elegant, not a lot of work — not much has changed, huh?  I didn’t have a lot of tools then, so I didn’t use a lot here either.  The round butterfly is actually a glitter window (double sided tape is behind the punched butterfly, then Dazzling Diamonds is applied).  This card is 5″ square.  Here’s the next:

This card is really simple and clean and a little more representative of my early style of cards.  This one is 5.5″ square and the sentiment is from a set by Flourishes called Open to Love.  Here’s the last:

This is a standard A2 size at 4.25 x 5.5″.   Very simple.  Again, very representative of something I would have made  years ago.

• Stamps:  Tulip and Background by Anna Griffin.  Thinking of You Flourishes (Open to Love).  Thanks by SU (Live Your Dream).
• Paper:  White, Black, Old Olive, Pale Plum.
• Ink:  Versa Fine Onyx Black.  Color Box Chalk Ink in Pale Pink and Pale Olive.
• Accessories:  Retired SU Organdy (lavendar), Anna Griffin Butterfly Punch, SU 1 1/4 and 1 3/8″ Punches, Mounting Tape, Pop Dots, Double Sided Tape, Dazzling Diamonds.

This was a super fun challenge — it’s fun to dig out some old favorites!!!  If you’d like to see what the other girls have come up with, the uploads at SCS will begin coming in at 6:00 a.m. EST on the 20th, and you may see them by clicking here.  The keyword is DCON308.

Thanks so much for stopping in.  I have a super simple Stamp Simply challenge planned for you again tomorrow (it’s Friday already???), so hope you can play!!! Thanks much!!!

I used one of the latest Easter releases by Flourishes, Easter Bunnies, to make this darling little girl’s birthday card — these are just the sweetest little bunnies in this set.  This is also for two challenges — the sketch today at SCS and a challenge being run by Flourishes in their Member Company forum at SCS to make a card incorporating the details found in a little girl’s dress — how fun.  You can read about that challenge here.  I also attempted to work this into yesterday’s color challenge at SCS — Orchid Opulence, Sage Shadow and Kraft — but the Kraft just wasn’t working for me here, so I used Barely Banana in it’s place, and that made me much happier!  Here it is:

The elements I used here that would relate to a little girl’s dress are the Swiss Dots (from embossing in the Cuttlebug), the gingham ribbon (all little girl’s dresses need a big bow), the picot trim, the button and the pretty, soft colors.  Loved this sketch as well — fun with all the panels!!!  The image was colored with an Aquapainter and ink refills and can you see his tail?  I pulled a bit of cotton off a cotton ball and glued it on — so fun!!!  And even though this is supposedly an Easter set, merely using a different sentiment turns this into a wonderful card for a little girl or baby.  I am certainly not packing this set away after Easter!!!!

• Stamps:  Easter Bunnies and Many Sentiments by Flourishes

• Paper:  Orchid Opulence, Sage Shadow, Barely Banana, White

• Ink:  Same as above plus Pumpkin Pie, Versa Fine Onyx Black

• Accessories:  Aquapainter, Ribbon, Picot Trim, Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots Folder, Button, Mounting Tape, Mini Glue Dots, Cotton Ball, Glue Pen

That’s it for now!!!  Thank you for stopping in and hope you all have a great day!!!

Many of you have been asking about sending cards to the Blake Family who recently lost their son, Kurt.  I have received permission to post their home address here, so you can mail cards directly to them:

Anna and Jerry Blake
126 Greenland Rd
Ontonagon, MI 49953

My previous post regarding this can be read here.

Kurt’s Blog can be read here.  The deep, strong, committed and unwavering Christian Faith of this family is so evident in a time of such tragedy.  And it all starts with faith the size of a mustard seed — may we all aspire to be more like this family.